The Blackberry Storm 2 Smartphone is RIM's venture to calm the storm that was raised by the Blackberry Storm Mobile Phone, released a year ago. When we say storm, we refer to how this first touchscreen handset from Blackberry, incurred the displeasure of many critics, due to the lack of competitive features in it. The new Storm 2 is supposed to include essentials that were omitted in its predecessor.

The first and most welcome novelty that the Blackberry Storm 2 mobile handset has is support for WiFi. Most of the other networking features are passed along as they were in the Blackberry storm. There is support for EDGE, GPRS and 3.5G networks. A web browser is integrated for viewing internet pages. Emailing can also be done using this gadget.

The internal software also is supposed to have undergone quite some changes to make the interface and user experience much better; like the Blackberry OS and the SurePress technology. This technology needed the user to physically hold down his finger on the screen inorder to accomplish certain tasks, rather than just touching it. It is supposedly upgraded for convenient usage.

The send, end call, menu and back buttons are now part of the touchscreen and no longer physical buttons. The other buttons that were present along the sides of the Storm have been rubberized and made more durable. Even the in-house memory has been increased from 1GB to 2GB, along with support for microSD card of up to 16GB/32GB capacity.

Nothing much has been changed on the display. The 3.25" 480 x 360 pixels touchscreen is part of this new mobile phone too. The camera stays the same as well, with a 3.2 Megapixel resolution.  It offers auto-focus and additionally, image stabilization. The upgraded version of Bluetooth, i.e. 2.1, is compatible with this device, while the initial touchscreen phone supported v2.0. A GPS receiver has been built into the new Storm 2 as well. Even a multimedia player with a 3.5mm audio jack is housed in this mobile handset. However, FM radio has been absented in this model too. Applications can be downloaded from the Blackberry App World, in case you want them. The battery that powers up this smartphone let's you have about 5 hours of talktime.

It was Apple who started the touchscreen craze. The other manufacturers soon joined in. Blackberry did delay in this regard, but caught up last year. Their first touchscreen phone however, failed to create the magic that the other Blackberry mobile phones did. With mobile handsets like HTC HD2, Nokia X6, HTC Tattoo, Samsung H1, LG GM750, to name a few, Blackberry still has a lot of catching up to do. Not that Blackberry Storm 2 is a bad one. It definitely is much better in terms of offerings, than the Storm. But it could a better job on its screen, camera and entertainment features.

The Blackberry Storm II 9520 Mobile Phone is available with Vodafone network for mobile phones deals costing £35/month. The mobile offers include a 2-year contract.